Virginia squanders a late 8-point lead at Boston College. Ole Miss flops against a Mississippi State team that had lost 13 straight. Baylor botches an inbounds pass and allows a game-winning three, all in the final second — emphasis on singular — of regulation against Kansas State.

Such was life for those and many other NCAA tournament hopefuls last weekend.

And we shouldn’t be surprised. Teams reside on the proverbial “bubble” because they have obvious flaws and lack impeccable tournament credentials. They lose to inferior opponents, defeat some superior ones and often can’t stand prosperity.

So yes, Virginia fans, lament Sunday’s 53-52 setback at Boston College. The Cavaliers failed to sustain the momentum created by their Thursday conquest of Duke and certainly damaged their NCAA prospects.

In so doing, Virginia joined Maryland and North Carolina State in stumbling immediately after an emotional home victory over the Blue Devils. The Terps fell at Boston College, the Wolfpack at Maryland.

But the Cavaliers hardly were alone last weekend and still have chances to atone, starting Thursday at Florida State, where they’ve dropped nine consecutive games.

Tennessee, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Arizona State, St. John’s, Villanova, Indiana State and Baylor also endured disappointment. The latter was tied at home against Kansas State with one second remaining and was inbounding the ball from the backcourt end line. But a long pass into the frontcourt went out of bounds untouched, running no time off the clock, and on the subsequent inbounds play, K-State’s Rodney McGruder beat the horn with a 3-pointer.

Ouch.

Understandably, the most common question is: What must Virginia do in its remaining schedule — Florida State, Maryland at home Sunday and next week’s ACC tournament — to secure a bid?

As much as y’all hate to hear this, there’s simply no way to tell. Too much hinges on results elsewhere, as other hopefuls play themselves into, or out of, the bracket.

The most common “bid thieves” are teams from outside the six major conferences who lead their league, have a lofty RPI and fail to win their conference’s tournament and automatic bid. This season’s suspects include Conference USA’s Memphis (No. 19 on the Rating Percentage Index), No. 46 Akron from the Mid-American, No. 36 Creighton from the Missouri Valley, No. 26 Middle Tennessee State from the Sun Belt and No. 23 Belmont from the Ohio Valley.

The teams Stevens currently designates as last four “in” are Villanova, Virginia, Massachusetts and Kentucky. His next eight “out” are Iowa State, Alabama, Tennessee, Maryland, Southern Miss, Baylor, Ole Miss and Arkansas.

Here’s how those dozen teams compare in the NCAA’s RPI “nitty gritty” released Monday. Categories are overall record, RPI, road record, non-conference strength-of-schedule, record versus the top 50, record against the top 100.

Some observations about the raw numbers and then some details to add some flesh.

Virginia’s winning percentages against the top 50 and 100 are unmatched among this group by few others solidly in the field. But the Cavaliers have played only nine games versus the top 100, a strikingly low total that speaks to their non-conference schedule, which we’ve discussed for weeks now.

Also glaring: Virginia’s seven losses to teams below 100 on the RPI. Alabama’s four are the most among the remainder of the group. Kentucky has none.

The most such losses for an at-large team last season was Southern Miss’ four. The most in recent memory was Southern California’s six in 2011.

In the surging sea of blue-and-orange clad humanity that swarmed onto the John Paul Jones Arena floor after Virginia’s 73-68 win against No. 3 Duke, U.Va.’s players lived out the kind of frenzied postgame celebration that had previously only existed in their dreams.

University of Virginia security followed planned procedure and “did its job” when fans stormed the John Paul Jones Arena floor Thursday after a basketball victory over Duke, athletic director Craig Littlepage said Friday.

Getting big home wins in January against North Carolina and N.C. State were steps in the right direction for a Virginia program hoping to get back to the NCAA tournament for a second straight season, but one fact remains.

No school gets rich off the NCAA’s basketball fund. Reach the Final Four like Duke and Kentucky? Exit the first weekend like Virginia, Hampton and VCU? Just miss qualifying like Old Dominion and Richmond?

Absent remarkable stamina, a forgiving boss, Dan Patrick’s man cave and Jerry Lucas’ memory, absorbing the NCAA tournament’s 48-games-in-four days opening salvo borders on impossible. You simply need some time to process it all before the regional semifinals commence.